off to the races
by kinselllas
Summary: She was really quite pretty. It was a shame he was going to have to kill her.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **_Believe it or not, I have been doing so much writing lately! I'm working hard to fulfill a lot of the prompts people gave me, including a season one fic and a pseudo-NYU piece which should be up soon. Of course, this fic is neither of those (I know, I am cruel) but it's something I've wanted to write for a really long time and just haven't had the motivation. I'm not going to give a plot summary because it should be pretty obvious after reading this, which is sort of serving as a prologue. If I get a good response I'll continue! There will definitely be some violence and disturbing references to torture and what not, also some Dan/Georgina action because they're my guilty pleasure ship. Ultimately a DB fic with lots of sexual tension and suspense. _

_This is pretty short, but as I said, it's basically a prologue to what the actually storyline will be. _

_Thank you for being so patient with me! You guys are all wonderful and the fact that you read my stories means the actual world to me. _

"Just find out where the memory card is so we can get out of here," Dan glanced over his shoulder, clutching his gun firmly.

A few feet away, a young man was begging for his life, tied up and at the mercy of Georgina Sparks. The duct tape over his mouth did little to muffle his screams and groans as she sawed at his ear with a small knife. The smirk on her face did not escape Dan. She enjoyed the thrill of torturing her victims, even beyond necessary means.

"Tell me where the memory card is, Jimmy," She purred against the young man's ear. The same ear that she was in the process of cutting off entirely. Tears rolled down his face as he shook his head, resisting. Georgina laughed to herself as she went back to cutting. Blood was pooling around his head and Dan was certain they were running out of time. This guy wasn't going to crack. They had already been there for an hour. He tried desperately to focus on guarding the door, but the screams were echoing in his skull, making it impossible to do so. Finally, the noises subsided. It was calm.

A hand touched his shoulder and Dan jumped, whipping around to find Georgina behind him, smiling.

"How much do you love me?" She asked, head tilted to the side.

Dan lowered his weapon, laughing with relief. "You know where it is?"

She nodded and he watched as she returned to the other room and carefully packed up her tools. She handled them with so much care, it was almost humorous, how much pride she took in torture.

He used to love her. At least, he thought he loved her. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he loved the adrenaline rush she gave him. The way her teeth ripped at his bottom lip, as if to tear it off of his mouth. She was always sneaking up behind him, gun pointed at his head and he was never completely assured that she wouldn't pull the trigger. She was crazy enough, and Dan wouldn't be surprised if she liked the feeling taking her own lover's life, watching him fall to his knees in front of her, blood pooling around his body.

"We have a few minutes to spare," she smirked, approaching him slowly, "Fuck on the granite countertop?"

Her hand trailed down his chest delicately and behind them their victim was still mourning the loss of his ear. While it was tempting, Dan was just ready to be out of the house.

"Raincheck," he said playfully and grabbed her hand to lead her out the back door quietly. In the alley, a black town car sat with it's lights off, but Dan could hear the engine humming quietly. It was the third time in the past two weeks that he'd seen the car after a mission. Their agency only drove Range Rovers so he knew it couldn't be back up. Dan put his arm around Georgina's shoulders carefully and hurried her out of the alley and down the street to their car.

Once they were driving, Dan let out a sigh of relief to be away from the suspicious town car, and the poor guy who was lying in a pool of his own blood. He needed a drink. And a new job.

"I got you a souvenir," Georgina said as they flew down the freeway. She opened her box of tools and placed something in his hand gently. As soon as he looked down, he felt his stomach lurch. Jimmy's ear was sitting in the palm of his hand.

"Fuck, I don't want that," He tossed it back at her and Georgina laughed, examining the ear carefully. Dan glanced at her as he drove, the fascination was eminent in her eyes. She was passionate about what she did for a living, he would give her that.

"So where's the card?" he asked, snapping her back into focus.

Georgina glanced up, dropping the ear back into the box. "A safety deposit box at the bank on 52nd."

He nodded, secretly hoping that he would be assigned to retrieve the memory card. When Georgina was under cover she typically cracked under pressure and would end up shooting a security guard for asking if she wanted to check her coat. And yes, that _had _happened at an UES gala only months ago.

They arrive at the ISIS building and stop at Lily's office to inform her about the success of the mission.

"Nicely done," Lily applauded quietly, sipping her martini. She gave Dan explicit instructions for retrieving the memory card and Georgina headed out on another mission with their other agent, Carter Baizen. Dan hated the pang of jealousy he felt whenever Georgina left for a mission with someone else. Even if they weren't romantically involved (if you could call it romance) she was still his partner. They worked better together than anyone else at the agency.

"Daniel, I have a very important mission for you."

He sat down in one of the plush chairs and waited for her to continue, intrigued.

"Remember when I had you take down Bart Bass, the head of Bass Agencies?"

"Biggest mission of my career," he nodded, feeling his stomach twist at the memory of suffocating a fifty-eight year old man to death in the comfort of his bedroom while his wife was away.

"One of his former agents is on to us. She's been trailing us for awhile. She needs to be taken care of immediately."

It sounded easy enough. To take out another agent, all he had to do was think like an agent. The revelation shed light on the town car that kept showing up when he was leaving a mission.

"Sure. Who's the agent?"

"Blair Waldorf." Lily handed him a thick file and he flipped through the papers quickly, mostly documenting her family history and childhood, all the way up to every single mission she had completed for Bass. Dan was curious of just how Lily had acquired what seemed to be a highly confidential file. At the back of all the papers was a picture. It was taken from afar, presumably in secret, but the girl was looking directly at the camera, as if she had spotted it easily. A small smirk rested on her shiny red lips and traveled up to her dark brown eyes. A burgundy beret rested on top of her long brown waves.

She was really quite pretty. It was a shame he was going to have to kill her.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**: _If people haven't noticed already, this fic is sort of based on the Scandal storyline and the name of the agency is the same as the agency in Archer. Yep!_

Dan stared at his wall of weapons and settled on the Walther PPK, sliding it into the back of his waistband and covered it carefully with his suit coat. He normally wouldn't worry about such a remedial mission, but with Blair Waldorf showing up randomly on his path, he couldn't be too careful.

She was a hard person to track, clearly she was trained in altering security footage and tampering with cameras, because they could never get her on film for more than a few seconds- aside from a few events where she let herself be seen publicly.

"I could take her out, you know," Georgina stood in the doorway of his office, hair falling like a curtain over her shoulders. "If you wanted me to."

"Lily gave me the order. I'll be the one to end her," he said confidently and was surprised when he actually meant it. If Blair Waldorf already wanted him dead, it would make him feel less guilty about killing her first. Yet, he was bothered by the fact that she'd had so many opportunities to shoot him and hadn't taken any of them. He wondered if she wanted something, and what that something could be.

"Be careful," Georgina approached him, inches from his body. "Bass agents shoot first and ask questions later."

Dan laughed lightly, his gaze flickering over her mouth. "I can handle myself."

When he arrived at the bank on 52nd, he gave the safety deposit box number to the employee and was led down a long hallway to a vaulted room in the back. He asked for a few minutes alone and the young woman obliged, leaving him to his business. However, even once she was gone, he couldn't help but feel someone watching him. He turned the key and pulled the drawer open, relieved when he saw the blue and black memory card sitting inside.

He slipped the card into his pocket, but as he did he could definitely feel someone behind him. His hand quickly flew to his waistband and he turned with his gun pointed at Blair Waldorf, who just so happened to have a gun pointed at him.

He licked his lips cautiously and smiled at her, "Beretta 92F? Impressive."

"PPK?" She tilted her head, playfully. "What is this, the 1930's?"

She was hotter than he expected, although he'd only seen one picture. She stood in an all black ensemble, tightly hugging her small frame. Her brown hair was pulled back in a loose pony tail, eyes circled with black liner and mimicked those of a cat. He couldn't help but notice the tall black wedges she was wearing, wondering how he didn't hear her shoes clicking through the hall.

"James Bond used a PPK," he reasoned, not entirely sure why he needed to prove himself to her.

Blair rolled her eyes, unamused. "Hand over the memory card, Humphrey."

He wanted to laugh. She thought it would be that easy for her, as if he'd just hand it over without question.

"Maybe if you drop your weapon," he shrugged, keeping his gun pointed at her heart. Hers was conveniently pointed at his head. Berettas were known for their accuracy with head shots. If he could get her to falter for just a moment, Dan was certain his aim was good enough to kill her in one shot.

Blair laughed, her gun remaining stationary. "You think I'm going to lower my weapon for a piece of plastic?"

Dan raised an eyebrow to challenge her, but she was resilient.

"Hand it over before I kill you and have to fish it out of your pocket myself," she said sharply, and while Dan made no move to give it to her, he was no longer as confident in himself making it out unharmed.

"Speaking of killing me," he started, "Why haven't you?"

Blair didn't say anything, just smiled and stepped closer to him. Dan could feel his heart begin to race.

He continued, "What's that thing they say about Bass agents? Shoot first, ask questions later?"

Blair's lips curled into a grin like the cheshire cat as she lowered her gun and Dan smiled back at what he assumed was his victory. But when he moved to release the safety on his own gun, Blair fired a shot into his thigh. A searing pain shot through his entire leg and his gun dropped to the floor.

"Mother of fuck, you've got to be kidding me." He gripped his leg in pain, leaning against the wall of boxes for balance.

"I shot. Happy?" Her voice sounded ironically innocent considering she was anything but.

"Ecstatic," he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Maybe he should've given Georgina the job after all. Although even after being shot in the leg, he didn't like the image of her tying Blair up and torturing her until she bled to death. He bent down to grab his PPK, but out of the corner of his vision, the black wedges were getting closer. Blair slammed him into the wall, her hand gripping his throat tightly.

He would've fought back if it weren't for her gun resting against his jaw.

"Sorry, baby. Just following orders," her hand dropped from his throat and found its way to his pocket, feeling around until she grabbed the memory card. Dan found his eyes flitting over her mouth and face, breath hitching when her fingers grazed his inner thigh.

She slid the card into her pocket, reaching down to pick up his gun and hooked it in her waistband, the Beretta stayed pointed at Dan.

"I'm sure we'll meet again, Humphrey," She said as she backed out of the vault, and all Dan could do was watch her leave. He really should've come better prepared. She could've killed him, easily, but she didn't. He still wasn't sure what to make of that. He quickly dialed Carter and asked him for a ride back to ISIS.

As soon as they got up to the 22nd floor, he could hear Georgina laughing before the elevator doors even opened. For some reason she always found his injuries incredibly entertaining, especially when she was the one inflicting them.

"How could you let this happen?" Lily exclaimed, her martini swished and a few drops fell on the carpet.

Dan plopped onto a random desk chair and waited while one of the young interns, Carrie? Sherri? regardless, carefully removed the bullet and began patching him up.

"Sorry, after she _shot me in the leg_ there wasn't much I could do to stop her."

Lily scoffed, taking a long swig of her drink. Dramatics were her speciality. Dan had learned to tune them out most of the time. It wasn't as though she was the one carrying out the missions.

"You need to get that memory card back, Daniel," she scolded and Georgina was smirking at him from behind her. He smiled back, figuring that at least he would probably get laid tonight, not that he particularly cared. He stopped listening to Lily and watched the young girl threading the needle through his skin to seal his wound. It made him flinch in pain, but all he could think about was Blair. She hadn't killed him. Would he have killed her if she hadn't shot him? He couldn't be certain. There was something about her that intrigued him.

"Do you mind if I ask what's on it? The card."

"Well, in fact, I do mind," Lily trilled, her martini was almost empty, "But I suppose I could tell you that it involves the election rigging software."

Dan's eyes widened. "Has it been used already?"

"Yes."

His mind was racing with the prospect of a rigged election, questioning the integrity of a few politicians that he wouldn't put it past. Including the Vice President, Tripp Vanderbilt, who Dan had never wanted to see in office due to his self-serving agenda.

"I'll get it back," he said, pushing himself up from the chair. It wasn't going to be easy to go up against Blair with his leg injury, but it was his fault he lost the memory card in the first place. Georgina followed him to his office, sliding her hands up his shirt from behind him.

"What was it like?" She asked and he turned to face her.

"What was what like?"

Georgina smirked, pulling him tightly against her body, "Staring into the face of death."

"She was never going to kill me," he said and for some reason his chest tightened at the thought. From the moment Blair arrived in the vault, Dan's instincts told him that she was not his enemy. She had said that she was just following orders and if Dan were to say the same, there'd be a bullet through her chest. "Why do you think Blair's superior would want the information on that memory card?"

She dropped her hands and sighed, frustrated, "I don't care, Dan."

Dan rolled his eyes and walked out of his office, leaving Georgina standing alone at his desk. He made his way down to Eric's office and knocked on the door gently. Eric was Lily's son and provided most of the intel the agents needed for completing missions.

"Where will Blair Waldorf be tonight?" He asked, stepping in the doorway.

Eric typed a few things into his computer and scrolled for a few seconds before smiling up at Dan, "She's attended Governor Archibald's ball for the past three years, as a guest of the Governor, not an agent."

Dan nodded and thanked him, hurrying down to the parking garage to go home.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

His finest suit still did not stand up to the way some of the other guests were dressed, but Dan entered the party confidently, his red tie straightened just so.

Sneaking in through a third floor balcony of the hotel wasn't the easiest feat, but he had managed it nonetheless. A couple security guards would be waking up with quite the headache later.

He searched the room carefully, sure to not look suspicious or too eager. He grabbed a champagne flute as he strolled through the ballroom, holding it to his lips and taking a sip. He heard her name over the rumble of conversations around him and looked over his shoulder.

Blair Waldorf stood in a black haltered gown with a long slit up the leg. He slowly brought the glass back down from his mouth and stared at her. Her eyes were still rimmed with black but her skin had a subtle glow to it, while her brown waves fell loosely over her bare shoulders. Fuck, she was beautiful.

Blair's brows furrowed when her gaze landed on him and he smirked back at her, glad to have caught her off guard. She raised an eye brow and gave him a smile before turning and walking down a secluded hallway. Dan pushed past a few people and made his way down the same hallway, but she was nowhere to be seen. He checked a few empty rooms but it was as if she had vanished out of nowhere. Then he heard a short breath and laughed to himself, turning the corner at the end of the hall.

Cold metal. Cold metal blade. Cold metal blade pressed against his throat.

"I thought I shot you, what are you doing here?" She whispers hastily, her knife pressing into his skin.

Dan swallows and feels his adams apple hit the metal harshly. "You thought I'd be scared off by one bullet?"

"It was a warning shot," Blair tightens her grip and Dan shuts his eyes, the feeling of being near to death overwhelms him. He never thought he'd get to this point, especially not like this. He'd made it so easy for her, following her down this dark hallway because for some ungodly reason he trusted her.

"Sorry," he said softly, and as soon as he did he felt her strength falter against him. Dan took the opportunity to whip around and slammed her roughly against the wall, managing to get the knife out of her fingers and holding it against her neck. She smelled flowery, like roses. "Waldorf, you're too easy."

He couldn't see any fear in her eyes, as if she was always anticipating death, no matter what she did. It was a trait Dan wished he had as an agent. He had just recently lost his tremor when holding a gun.

"I'm not going to tell you where it is, so you might as well kill me," She said, resilient.

Dan brought a hand up to rest on her chest and her heartbeat gave her way. He could feel it pounding erratically under his palm and the sensation made his breath catch in his throat. He met her eyes and they had softened slightly, showing vulnerability.

She licked her lips slowly and Dan felt his skin heat up, being in such close proximity with her. He had officially met his match.

He leaned forward slowly, keeping the blade tight against her skin, and Blair sighed against his lips. If he just moved a little bit closer…

"Blair!" A voice yelled from down the hallway.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **_I know I said this story was based on Scandal, but the election rigging is the only similarity_. _Other than that it's entirely different. Hope you enjoy!_

_xoxo Gia_

Dan slipped the knife into his pocket and took a step back, letting Blair turn the corner to greet their intruder. He swallowed when he saw Governor Archibald approaching them, brow furrowed.

"I've been looking all over for you," he said quietly, "Who is this?" The Governor's hand gestured to Dan.

Blair cleared her throat, straightening her trembling posture. In a moment of impulse, she slid an arm around Dan's waist and grinned. "This is my boyfriend, Daniel."

Dan felt incredibly nervous as he watched the Governor try to read Blair's gaze, as if he was searching for dishonesty. He didn't know their relationship, but it appeared Archibald had at least a few trust issues. Dan's pulse was still racing under his skin as he spoke;

"Humphrey. Dan Humphrey," He extended his hand, "I voted for you in the last election."

Nate narrowed his eyes suspiciously before taking Dan's hand. "Nate Archibald," he looked to Blair again, "What are you doing back here?"

"Just sharing a private moment," she shrugged sweetly. Dan wanted to laugh. "Surely you understand."

Nate nodded, rather hesitantly, and lead them back down the hallway. When they entered the ballroom, Nate trailed off to talk to his grandfather. Blair moved to walk away but Dan grabbed her wrist, yanking her back to him.

"Let's talk," he whispered, nodding to the dance floor. She took his hand as an arm wrapped around her waist. His fingers grazed the bare skin of her back and he felt her shiver against him. Dan met her eyes and smiled. "Let me guess, Governor's mistress?"

Blair narrowed her eyes at him, "Don't be ridiculous."

She really was beautiful. It was sort of distracting while he was trying to interrogate her (and intimidate her). One of her hands moved to his waistband but Dan caught it immediately.

"Don't get handsy, Waldorf" he raised a brow. "The knife is mine now."

Blair let out a frustrated sigh and moved closer to him, her shoulders relaxed slightly. He couldn't stop his gaze from flickering over her mouth. She licked her lips carefully and Dan wanted nothing more than to run his own tongue over the same path. He had never found himself so intensely drawn to someone. Aside from Georgina, who would tear off his clothes the moment they completed a mission. Anything further than physical intimacy was a thought he had to shake out of his head.

"Who's your superior?" He asked, in the midst of a heavy silence.

Blair glanced over her shoulder before continuing the conversation. "I could've killed you today. I _should _have killed you."

"But you didn't."

She rolled her eyes. "But I _should _have."

Dan released her for a moment to spin her on the middle of the dance floor and she spun back into his arms. His hands gripped her hips tightly and felt something hard digging into this leg. As they moved across the floor he carefully pushed the slit of her dress aside and was greeted with his Walther PPK hooked in her garter.

Blair started to pull away as Dan pulled her closer, his other hand moving to the gun.

"I'll be taking this back," he mumbled against her ear, "Sexy hiding place."

Blair let out a huff of frustration as all of her defenses were being taken from her. Dan realized that at this point it wasn't even a fair fight. All he had to do was get her alone and he could fire a clear shot.

"You don't get it, do you?" She asked quietly.

Dan looked at her, amused but silent.

"You just follow Lily's orders. You never ask why. You never ask who you're hurting and you never ask who you're protecting."

"Blair-" He tried to cut her off, but she persisted.

"You're not a spy, Dan. You're a hitman."

Dan rolled his eyes, a small laugh escaping him, "Oh, come on. Just because I killed your lover Bart Bass doesn't mean that I'm-"

She cut him off again, grabbing his lapel firmly and yanking him down, "You don't know anything about the Basses."

He placed a hand gently on the side of her face, brushing away a few strands of hair. Her eyes were so cold, relentless.

"I know enough," he said softly, smiling.

Dan slipped the knife out of his pocket and pressed the metal firmly against the silk of her dress, digging it into her hip bone.

"What if you're right?" He asked, using the blade to push the slit of her dress aside. "What if I _am _a hitman?" She gasped when she felt the cool metal skating over her bare skin. A strangled noise escaped her throat when he rested the sharp tip against her rib cage.

"Should I go deeper?" He asked, voice gravelly.

Blair swallowed hard, staring back at him. The Governor's security was starting to notice him, exchanging glances. A moment later Dan flicked the knife into his sleeve and kissed the corner of Blair's mouth. He then excused himself from the ballroom and hurried out to the parking ramp.

xx

Dan stayed up for hours that night, studying Blair's file. His desk was covered in papers as he tried to connect the dots. Where did her loyalty to Bart Bass come from? She couldn't have been born into corruption.

He was losing steam, about to fall asleep, when a word caught his eye on one of the reports.

_Engaged._

The report said she had been engaged for three years before she began working for Bass Agency. The report left out who her betrothed was.

Dan reached for his phone and dialed the only person who could find him the answer.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding," Eric's voice came through the speaker, groggy, "The sun will be up in an hour."

Dan ignored him, as he often did. His job always came first. "Who was Waldorf engaged to?"

"Nope, this can wait," Eric said. Dan could picture the eye roll already.

"It really can't. I'm about to lose my mind if I can't figure this out."

Eric sighed then, and Dan could hear him rustling for his computer.

"Always with the dramatics," he said softly.

The clicking of a keyboard filled the silence as he waited for a response. What felt like hours went by before Eric finally picked the phone up again.

"She was engaged to Charles Bass for three years, until he was assassinated in 2011. He was shot accidentally. The hit was on Bart Bass. He went straight to Intensive Care and died the next day from internal bleeding of the brain."

Dan muttered a thank you and hung up. He felt sick to his stomach. His first thought was Lily. It was clear Blair had a vendetta against her, and now the reasoning made it seem all the more plausible.

But ISIS agents never made mistakes. Carter was the agency sniper, and he had never missed a shot in his entire career. He would never do something as careless as shoot Bart's son by mistake.

Blair's word, _hitman, _was starting to ring truer and truer. He never asked Lily why he was ordered to kill Bart Bass, because he was trained to never question orders.

But now it was starting to feel like they killed a lot more than they saved.

Dan opened his computer and searched the ISIS image database with the keywords "Waldorf and Bass."

Hundreds of pictures had been collected over the years, presumably as soon as Blair became a threat to the agency. There were the candid shots of her on security footage infiltrating ISIS missions, but Dan scrolled further. He stopped when he arrived at the year 2008. He had seen pictures of Charles Bass before in newspapers and magazines after he was killed. Dan was always surprised there were no pictures of him in Bart's room the night that Dan murdered him.

But these photos were different, because of the beautiful, happy, person standing next to him, a glimmering ring on her third finger.

_Blair._

And the first emotion he felt was sadness.


End file.
